Krugman: Climate Denial Was the Crucible for Trumpism
"Many observers seem baffled by Republican fealty to Donald Trump the partys willingness to back him on all fronts, even after severe defeats in the midterm elections. What kind of party would show such support for a leader who is not only evidently corrupt and seemingly in the pocket of foreign dictators, but also routinely denies facts and tries to criminalize anyone who points them out?
The answer is, the kind of the party that, long before Trump came on the scene, committed itself to denying the facts on climate change and criminalizing the scientists reporting those facts.
The G.O.P. wasnt always an anti-environment, anti-science party. George H.W. Bush introduced the cap-and-trade program that largely controlled the problem of acid rain. As late as 2008, John McCain called for a similar program to limit emissions of the greenhouse gases that cause global warming.
But McCains party was already well along in the process of becoming what it is today a party that is not only completely dominated by climate deniers, but is hostile to science in general, that demonizes and tries to destroy scientists who challenge its dogma..."
More: https://www.nytimes.com/2018/12/03/opinion/climate-denial-trump-gop.html?action=click&module=Opinion&pgtype=Homepage
Botany
(70,291 posts)In 1981 when Reagan came to power he took down the solar panels (water heaters)
from the White House and his republican acolytes all pounded their chests and told
each other what a good move St. Ronny made.
Republicans turned their backs on the future right then. Nowadays it has boiled down to simply 'trolling the libs,' but in Reagan's day it was all presented as sunny optimism - 'Morning in America (tm)'
MAGA is the same old rerun, featuring more blatant trolling.